There is Beauty All Around

My house is coming along!  Just 2 weeks until move in, and I am SUPER excited!  In the last week things have been moving along at an extraordinary pace.  Tuesday last week they started putting the floors in.  By Saturday all of the floors were in except the stairs, and all of the cabinets were in place.  Then Wednesday I stopped by after work and was thrilled to see all of the lights were in, doorknobs were on, the toilet was set, countertops and sinks were in, and the appliances, my gorgeous appliances, had arrived.  

I don't know about you, but a floor plan really helps me visualize a space better, so here is mine.  The kitchen is upgraded to be an L shape obviously, but thats the basic layout of it all.  Next to the shower in the bathroom is where my washer and dryer will go.  

You can see the basic outline of the kitchen here.  If you ignore the dust and footprints you can get an idea of the beautiful floor that I have throughout the whole house.

I'm so excited for all the storage! (My apartment in Logan had two upper cabinets and two lower, but one of them you had to access from under the sink because the front was blocked by the oven.  This is 3 times as big, and much nicer.

My beautiful high ceilings in my bedroom, and the really pretty light fixture.

My high ceilings and pretty light fixture in the living room/kitchen.

Aren't my appliances gorgeous?  It's a gas stove!  And I'm so excited about my pretty grey quartz countertops.  

I have a dishwasher!  I am sooooo excited for that!  I seriously freaked out I was so excited one day when I thought about how fun it would be to figure out the most efficient way to load it.  (I'm a bit OCD and loading dishwashers is like a jigsaw puzzle to me.  I love it)

The more progress I see, the more I can't wait to move in, and get settled.  Soon!  I especially get excited every morning when I go out to my car, and have to decide whether or not I need to scrape my car windows.  To get all of my boxes unpacked and actually be able to find all of my stuff again is a dream I can't wait to fulfill.  2 weeks!

Ketchup!

It's a new year!  That always brings about a feeling of starting fresh.  An ending and a beginning.  Well before I get to the beginning I better finish up the ending, so here is one post that wraps up all of the posts I meant to write, but didn't throughout 2012.

July

We were in a Movie (which filmed late 2011)!  We got to go to the movie premier, and walk the (admittedly short) red carpet!

The writer and director on the red carpet!

With our good friend Kathryn who wrote and directed the awesome movie

With the Movie poster.  See how cute we look all dolled up!  That was fun.

My nephew Ben with the poster.  A few years ago when Kathryn produced this in it's play format he played the starring role of Rudi.

I road tripped up to Rexburg for my friend Alesha's college graduation

And all of my group of 6 best friends are college grads!

On the way home I stopped and did a session at the Idaho Falls Temple.

And walked around the Brigham City Temple to see the progress.  (It wasn't dedicated until September.)  This picture should probably also be under September since my parents and I went up for the open house on my birthday, but forgot to take any pictures.

August

More from our trip to St. George! (original post here)

Playing in the Pool.  Essential if you go to St. George in August.  And I did really well with the sunblock and only got a minor sunburn :)

Went to a monument on Dixie State campus, and my mother found her ancestor on the plaque.

We had a big family reunion at my aunt's house.

To make it easier on my daddy I drove his scooter to and from the party so he could have it for easier getting around on the grass, to visit with people.  It was not a hardship :)

I went to see the Stanley Cup when it came to Utah

I was so far back in the line I never made it inside during the time period, but Trevor Lewis of the LA Kings who brought it to Utah, carried it up and down the line of people so we could all see it.  So Cool!!!

September

Pruning back Godzilla

When we finally pulled out Godzilla we filled 5 garbage bags, and ended up with over 400 tomatoes we had picked from him over the summer.

Canning!

Hannah prayed one day while sleeping over that our tomatoes would be so nummy when we squished them, and turned them into ketchup, and she ate them with her nuggets.  We did squish them...

But unfortunately for her we made them into our homemade tomato soup instead.  Mmmm :)

Apples and Pears

Our delicious Apple/Pear sauce (and some of the juice) which had a really cool pink hue.

Finished my vanity in the bathroom

For the first time since we started demolition last summer I have a backsplash around my sink, and a mirror hanging on my bathroom wall.  I love the way it turned out.

October

My great niece Lottie

Such a sweet little addition to our family.  I am totally in love with this beautiful baby girl.

This is the carseat cover I made for her.  I think it turned out really cute.

 First day of work

Yes I did a first day of work picture, just like a first day of school picture.   So what?

 Halloween

Dave as the Big Bad Wolf.  Yep, he played the part well.

Friar Mike.  Best Costume ever!!!  Even better a few days later when for his work party he shaved his head to be bald on top with a thick fringe around his head.  That is some dedication.  It was AWESOME!

Kelsea was originally supposed to be a Southern Bell, but a little ribbon on one of grandpa's canes and a stuffed lamb, and she became Little Bo Peep.  

Our Brave family.  Hannah and I are Merida.  Lori and my mother are the Queen in her bear format.  Livvy is holding two teddy bears so that she can be the triplet little brothers as bear cubs.  So much fun!  (also I know Merida doesn't wear a crown like that, but Hannah insisted.)

 2012 has been a great year, and now that I am caught up on all of the things I missed, or at least a great chunk of them (still planning on blogging about Christmas) I can move in to the new year.  Excited to see what it brings.  2 1/2 weeks until I close on my house :)

Chez Moi!

So if you hadn't heard...I'm building a house!  Yep, I'm pretty excited.  I've wanted to own my own home for years, and I've had my eyes on a particular townhome community in South Jordan for about a year and a half now.  I knew they were building their last building of the smaller and more affordable units, so as soon as I got a good paying job I went in and got everything worked out to buy the smallest of the units.  It is just a 721 sq. ft. house, but I am a young single girl, and it has all the space I need.  It is inexpensive enough that I will not be house poor, and the starting price was low enough that I was able to do all of the upgrades that I wanted.  It will be done early January, and I will be hopefully closing on the 31st of January.  I've been fortunate to live close enough that I end up going over once or twice a week.  I've missed a few, and it's more difficult now that the garage door is on, and they keep the front door locked, but it is so fun to watch the building process.

Picking out my cabinets and countertop.  A gorgeous Espresso Shaker Style Cabinet with a beautiful Grey Quartz Countertop.  

Looking up!

My bathroom/laundry room

My walls already hold so many stories to tell.  Over an hour sitting and visiting with my friend Alesha, little nieces dancing and playing all over the dry wall.  It's a wonderful start.

My living room and kitchen

My bedroom looking out my window and into my closet

Looking down the stairs

Door to the garage and my stairs

Looking from the living room to the stairs, bathroom, and out to the bedroom

My den on the first floor 

It's coming along!

My closet has walls!  Makes me feel so much more comfortable when the girls stand on that step and start using it as a stage.

Its starting to look like a house

Living room and doors out to the balcony

My kitchen, or at least it will be.  Eventually.

My redheads came to see.  Now they often ask when they come over if we can go see my house.  It's so fun.  Here we are hanging out in my kitchen.

Den now has walls

Looking down the stairs

So many supplies to build a little house!

The front courtyard

Front door and stairs up to the main living space upstairs

My utility closet out in the garage.  

Getting siding and a balcony

I walked in today and I have kitchen cabinets up on the wall!  I was just a little (over the top) excited.  

Bedroom has doors, painted walls, baseboards, and my bathroom vanity?  Looking good!

Den again (which in all actuality will be my office)

Gorgeous view of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple from my balcony!  It actually looks much closer in person. 

It's actually a pretty big kitchen considering how small the house is!  I absolutely love my cabinets.  Aren't they gorgeous.

The courtyard is coming along as well.  It is going to be such a cute area to live.

 I am so excited to move into my own house.  It still doesn't feel quite real, and I know that there are so many things that could come up, so I am cautiously optimistic about the whole thing.  If things fall through at this point I will probably be devastated, but I really don't think they will.  I am so excited to move, and start settling in to my new place.  It's going to be so fun.